Measuring Vulnerability of Typhoon in Residential Facilities: Focusing on Typhoon Maemi in South Korea

Abstract

Typhoons cause severe monetary damage globally. Many global insurance companies and public agencies are currently developing and utilizing windstorm risk estimation models to calculate the level of risk and set up strategies for avoiding, mitigating, and relocating those economic risks. Hence, the usage and accuracy of the windstorm risk estimation model is becoming increasingly significant, and reflecting local vulnerabilities is essential for refined risk assessment. While key risk indicators have been recognized in practical studies of economic losses associated with windstorms, there remains a lack of comprehensive research addressing the relationship between economic losses of residential buildings for South Korea and vulnerability. This research investigates the real damage record of Typhoon Maemi from an insurance company in order to bridge this gap. The aim of this study is to define the damage indicators of typhoons and create a framework for typhoon damage function, using the damage caused by Typhoon Maemi as a representative paradigm. Basic building information and natural disaster indicators are adopted to develop the damage function. The results and metric of this research provide a pragmatic approach that helps create damage functions for insurance companies and contingency planners, reflecting the actual financial losses and local vulnerabilities of buildings. The framework and results of this study will provide a practical way to manage extreme cases of natural disasters, develop a damage function for insurers and public authorities, and reveal the real economic damage and local vulnerability of residential buildings in South Korea.